


I can’t believe I’m sitting in space jail with you of all people

by CaptainAwesome242



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bar Room Brawl, Character Study, Conversations, Drinking, Fights, Gen, Hurt Bones, Klingons, Minor Injuries, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Proud Jim, Shore Leave, Talking, Tumblr Prompt, hurt Chekov - Freeform, jail cell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 19:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7905445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAwesome242/pseuds/CaptainAwesome242
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard McCoy finds himself in jail with the last person he would have suspected...</p>
            </blockquote>





	I can’t believe I’m sitting in space jail with you of all people

“I can’t believe I’m sitting in space jail with you of all people,” Leonard McCoy grumbled, but in truth he really _couldn’t_ believe it. If he imagined himself sat in a jail cell with a man he’d tried to break up from a brawl, he would have pictured himself sat with Jim, but never would he have thought of Pavel Chekov in a million years.

The boy in question was sat against the wall across from him, sporting a bust lip and one hell of a shiner, but a definite look of defiance on his face.

“Why? Because I am a ‘kid’? I am tough too, you know,” he said, wiping the blood from his lip on the back of his hand.

Len raised a sceptical eyebrow, “Yeah, you look it,”

In truth he had been surprised by the fight he’d seen in the young Ensign. The whole thing had happened so quickly, he was only just processing it now. They’d been on shore leave on a small planet called Thasus and Jim had decided that the Command Crew should get together for drink. Eager to please, Chekov had turned up first, Len not far behind. They’d been having a drink at the bar while they waited for the others...

_“I’ll haff a wodka on ze rocks” Chekov had announced to the bartender, who promptly took the money and turned to make the drink._

_“Wait a minute, kid, are you even old enough to drink?” Len had asked._

_Chekov had looked affronted, “Of course, Doctor, I turned eighteen last veek. Am no longer ‘kid’.”_

_Len snorted as the bartender placed the drink in front of the Russian, “Sure, you’re not.”_

_“Eez true!” Chekov maintained._

_“Sure, I believe you turned eighteen, but where I’m from eighteen is still a kid.”_

_“Vell, I’m from Russia. Ve are men from age twelve. And besides, ze legal drinking age here eez sewenteen,” he took a sip from the tumbler._

_Len rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say, kid.”_

_Chekov had silently fumed but had said nothing._

They had sat together for a while but still no sign of the others. Instead, they were approached by a group of Klingons who were also on shore leave, and as this was a neutral planet neither party was allowed to harm the other. Unfortunately, the Klingons saw their uniforms and attempted to provoke some kind of response out of them.

_“Well, if it isn’t Starfleet’s finest. Have they stooped so low as to send children out onto active duty?” the one that seemed to be the leader leered at Chekov, who took exception to once again being called a child._

_He attempted to stand but was pushed back into his seat by Len, “Leave it, kid, they’re not worth it.”_

_“That’s right, hold the kid back, we don’t want him to get hurt now do we?” the Klingon mocked to the amusement of the others._

_“I could take you, I could take any of you!” Chekov challenged and Len internally groaned, he really didn’t need the kid to be riling these Klingons up. The last thing they wanted was some kind of interplanetary incident; he was on shore leave, for Christ’s sake!_

_“Is that a challenge, tough guy?” the leader grinned and cracked his knuckles menacingly._

_Len could see the resolve waver slightly in Chekov’s eyes, so he grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back to the bar. “Trust me, they’re not worth the mark on your record. Jim and the others will be here soon and they won’t wanna have to scrape you off the floor.”_

_“Ah yes, Captain Kirk,” the leader spat on the floor in disgust and the other three followed suit, “Prime piece of scum that one.”_

_Len saw Chekov clench his fists and he knew it’d be game over soon. You could call the Ruski a kid, sure he’d get mad, but if you insulted his Captain..._

_Chekov swivelled slowly in the chair. “Say zat von more time,” he said in a very low voice._

_The leader leaned down so that his face was inches from Chekov’s, “I said, that your Captain is scum. He’s an overbearing, swaggering dictator with delusions of godhood on a ship that should be left in a junkyard.”_

_And that’s when it happened. Chekov had tackled the Klingon into a table, only to be pulled off by one of the others and punched by a third. Len had jumped in to Chekov’s aid and the brawl had begun. Not long after the police had arrived and arrested the lot of them, so there they were in the small cell._

“Zey should not haff said zhose sings about ze Keptin,” Chekov piped up, bringing Len back to the present.

“No,” he agreed, “but you also shouldn’t have launched yourself at that Klingon.”

“But ze Keptin—”

“—is a big boy and doesn’t need defending. Besides, it was just a few insults, nothing worth getting a record for.”

Chekov seemed to deflate and Len said nothing. He was still pretty mad at being dragged into this situation.

“Do... do you sink ze Keptin vill be mad at me?” Chekov asked quietly.

It struck Len as ironic that for all that Chekov denied he was a kid, he sounded an awful lot like a small child asking if his dad was gonna be mad when he found out he'd broken something.

It had not gone unnoticed that Chekov hero-worshipped the Captain, but Len realised then that this might go a bit deeper than that. He was always trying to prove to everyone that he wasn’t a kid anymore, but he seemed to try even harder to impress Jim than anyone else. Len didn’t know much about Chekov’s childhood beyond the fact that he’d grown up in his beloved Russia, but being a child prodigy he must have been doubted a lot because of his age. Len had seen firsthand how Jim encouraged rather than dissuaded the kid, and how Chekov’s face would light up with every “Good work, Chekov” or “Nicely done, Pavel”. The Doctor realised that Chekov had found in Jim a role model: someone to look up to, and someone who appreciated him for who he was.

When Chekov asked if he thought Jim would be mad at him, what he was really asking was if Len thought that he’d blown it with the only person whose opinion really mattered.

Len knew he needed to tread carefully, “Well, though you shouldn’t have done what you did, I think Jim will be proud of you.”

Chekov looked up in disbelief, “Do you really sink so?”

“Sure, I mean you just tried to take on four Klingons barehanded. Sounds like exactly the sort of thing he’d do.”

“Da, zat eez true,” Chekov nodded.

“Just don’t make a habit of it, alright? I don’t fancy sitting in a cell anytime someone insults the Captain.”

Chekov blushed and looked down, “I’m sorry you got inwolved een zhis.”

“Don’t be, if I hadn’t you would have been absolutely creamed by those Klingons.”

“Zat’s vhat you sink,” Chekov said with a smile.

Len rolled his eyes before closing them, if he was going to be here a while he might as well get some sleep...

“Well I’d hate to interrupt your nap, Bones, but it’s time to go,” Len could hear the smirk in Jim’s voice as he cracked his eyes open. Sure enough the Captain stood grinning beside the guard who removed the force field so that they could leave.

They collected their things from the desk and headed outside.

“I don’t understand Keptin, vhy vere ve allowed to leave?”

“Because I posted bail, which I will be taking from both of your paycheques by the way. But more importantly, what happened back there?”

“Vell... I—” Chekov started but was interrupted by Len.

“A group of Klingons started talking shit about you and the Enterprise and Chekov rushed in to defend your honour.”

“Seriously?” Jim turned to Chekov, “How many were there?”

“Four, sir,” Chekov mumbled, waiting for the lecture.

“Four? You took on four Klingons because they were talking smack about me? Damn, you’ve got spunk. Tell me how it went, how many did you take out?” Jim asked excitedly.

Chekov looked past Jim to Len, who nodded his head towards the Captain as an indication that Chekov should just go for it.

The kid grinned and launched into a tale of bravery and heroics, of punches landed and fallen Klingons. He even threw in the odd victory for Len, and Jim lapped it up. Len didn’t mind; the kid’s heart had been in the right place, and he saw how much he needed this. He also made a mental note to stop calling Chekov ‘kid’.


End file.
